The use of plastic as a container for food sold both in fast food restaurants and in the grocery store is increasing at an alarming rate. There is a great emphasis currently in recycling and minimizing non-biodegradable waste. However, due to the very low cost and the bulky size of plastic and styrofoam food containers, it is not practical to recycle the vast majority of plastic and styrofoam disposable food containers. There is, therefore, a great interest in utilizing food containers which are decomposable and inert in order to minimize the pollution problems resulting from the disposal of food containers in municipal land fills, incineration plants, or road side litter.
Over the years, there has been a significant amount of research to develop an environmentally acceptable disposable container as illustrated in the following patents:
______________________________________ Patent No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 3,415,402 R. L. Webber December 10, 1968 3,654,064 D. H. E. Laumann April 4, 1972 3,676,401 J. W. Henry July 11, 1972 3,844,987 R. A. Clendinning et al October 29, 1974 3,852,913 R. A. Clendinning et al December 10, 1974 3,867,324 R. A. Clendinning et al February 18, 1975 3,932,319 R. A. Clendinning et al January 13, 1976 4,191,320 L. J. Taylor et al March 4, 1980 4,641,005 O. E. Seiferth February 3, 1987 4,709,808 D. C. Balduff et al December 1, 1987 ______________________________________
These food container patents use a variety of decomposable materials such as various decomposable organic compounds, paperboard, and other biodegradable filler material. While the above listed patents disclose containers which attempt to solve the existing environmental problem, there is yet to be a commercially feasible biodegradable container developed which is competitive from a cost, mechanical structure and consumer acceptance standpoint with the plastics and styrofoam generally used today.
In addition to the environmental problems associated with the disposal of food containers, a problem exists on a smaller scale in disposing of used frangible targets. Frangible targets are commonly used in skeet and trap shooting and are referred to as clay pigeons. Typical clay pigeons are formed of a mixture of a lime based chalk and a pitch, phenyl-resinous bitumen. Broken clay pigeons pose environmental problems as they are not readily decomposable and may be toxic if eaten by animals. Recognizing the environmental problems, there have been efforts in the past to develop non-toxic frangible targets as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,124,550 and 4,568,087. None of these targets have been readily accepted in the commercial marketplace.
Frangible targets, in order to be competitive in the commercial marketplace, need to be formed of inexpensive materials and exhibit consistent fracture characteristics. Where the targets are to be thrown such as in trap and skeet, it is very important that the targets weight and flight characteristics be consistent as well. It is therefore important that targets should absorb as little moisture as possible as moisture tends to affect both the weight and frangibility.
While frangible targets are quite common, frangible projectiles are virtually unknown. Projectiles for firearms, BB guns, pellet guns and slingshots are typically formed of metal such as lead, copper or steel and in the case of slingshots, glass. The common characteristics of these projectiles is that they tend to ricochet. The ricochet problem is most troublesome when shooting in a confined area. Shooting a BB gun or a slingshot indoors can be particularly dangerous if a stray shot hits a solid object. While lead projectiles have less of a propensity to ricochet particularly at acute angles, lead is expensive and poses environmental hazards.